[Jacob-list] Floppy lamb

[Lindsay Oaster]

Nick, I'm very sorry you've had to go through this.  You certainly did
everything you could, and still it's hard.

Cathy, the lamb Zach mentioned was a four-horned ram.  Your description
matches the behavior we observed; I'd guessed something happened in utero
but never knew exactly what.

-Lindsay Oaster
Fat Toaster Farm


On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 11:38 AM, Donnangelo, Nick <ncd at mitre.org> wrote:


>  My many thanks to you Zach and everyone that responded.   The lamb took

> a decided turn for the worse with pneumonia and we made the difficult

> decision to euthanize about an hour ago.  ****

>

> ** **

>

> Nick****

>

> Shiloh Manor****

>

> Purcellville, VA****

>

> ** **

>

> *From:* zoaster at gmail.com [mailto:zoaster at gmail.com] *On Behalf Of *Zach

> Oaster

>

> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 23, 2013 9:45 AM

> *To:* Donnangelo, Nick

> *Cc:* jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

> *Subject:* Re: [Jacob-list] Floppy lamb****

>

> ** **

>

> We had a lamb -- a twin ram lamb -- born this way last year. We jugged the

> mother with the two lambs (she was one of our old and reliable ewes). Three

> or four times/day we went out and held the lamb up to the ewe's bag so that

> it could get its fill. It is worth noting that we tried to bottle feed, but

> he would have none of it... so the "natural" method was the compromise. We

> also consulted the experts who suggested BoSe or MuSe (I do believe they

> serve a similar purpose, someone correct me if I am wrong... we ended up

> using MuSe) and several other vitamin and nutrient injections that I can't

> recall at the moment. He survived for about a week, but did not thrive and

> never gained the ability to stand on his own. He seemed to have the

> strength but not the coordination. He would get on all fours for a few

> moments, and then fall over. It was almost like his sense of balance was

> completely blocked.

> ****

>

> ** **

>

> He passed while we were at work one day. It was unfortunate. I am guessing

> that IF it is possible for a lamb to recover from that situation that

> bottle feeding would be one of the only options to ensure proper feeding. I

> am interested to hear if anyone has seen recovery from this?****

>

> ** **

>

> We had several complications last year during lambing season, and I think

> many of them were in part due to nutritional needs that were unmet. Among

> those complications were the above noted lamb, but also nearly all of our

> adult ewes that normally have twins only bore a single lamb. The winter

> prior to last year's lambing season here in Michigan was unusually warm and

> unusually wet. I think this made conditions good for increased worm

> problems, and also different nutrition requirements. This year we made some

> changes and the ewes look MUCH healthier and lambing was a breeze (mostly

> we just fed alfalfa blocks as a supplement to unlimited free choice hay,

> and gave a small ration of sweet feed every day starting a few weeks before

> breeding season).****

>

> ** **

>

> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^****

>

> Zach Oaster****

>

> zach at fattoaster.com****

>

> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^****

>

> Visit Zach & Lindsay's farm blog: http://www.fattoasterfarm.com****

>

> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^****

>

> ** **

>

> On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 4:49 PM, Donnangelo, Nick <ncd at mitre.org> wrote:**

> **

>

> One of our new ewes gave birth to a normal ewe lamb but a profoundly weak

> ram lamb. The ram lamb is completely unable to stand but is capable of

> dragging himself. We managed to get about 40cc of colustrum from ewe and

> tubed him. We have been tubing with sheep milk replacer but last night we

> decided to bring him inside and he immediately took to a bottle. Alert, is

> able to support head and sit prone but completely unable to stand. Vet

> recommended giving it a few days. Wondering if anyone could provide

> advice/experiences/prognosis?  Thanks

>

> Nick

> Shiloh Manor

> Purcellville, VA

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